Winter 2022-23 - General Discussion

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120301415#Comment_120301415

Well I never thought of weather as being some kind of entertainment! re your first sentence! Gobsmacked! I for one am always very at peace when the weather is calm and no dramas... lol... And surely not scientific to criticise it for being calm.... Ah well! Takes all sorts...

A lovely quiet peaceful night out here.. which I am enjoying.

Maybe because few of us have our lives ruled/disrupted by bad weather?

nacho libre

Goodbye winter 2022 - 23. You won't be missed by Gonzo in Dunshaughlin! Onwards to 2023-24!

Billcarson

Only 9 months till winter 23/24.......🤪

Winter 22/23 was a borefest for the most part. February in particular. Though at least the second half of the winter was often dry which allowed things to dry out after the previous very wet months.

Grateful for the cold spell in December even if it wasn't very exciting. But it felt very festive and got me into the Christmas mood. Felt more Christmasy then, then the actual Christmas period itself. Shame we couldn't build on that spell, I thought it might have been a good sign going forward further into the winter but that certainly wasn't the case in the end.

Gonzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302503#Comment_120302503

I think the biggest dissapointment of the winter was the promising start and then just flatlined for the rest of it. Having said that I was very grateful to the dry spell over January and February. Just a pity we couldn't get one day of an easterly blast in between, just one day of a half decent widespread snowfall with lying snow is all it takes to change the opinion of winter from a dead duck to something to keep us happy and tie us over for another winter.

And then the insult comes right in the end when places like Greece, Majorca and north Africa get proper snowfalls to low levels.

CrowdedHouse

I was buried in snow on 18th January, I'm glad that winter is over 😁

Gonzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303275#Comment_120303275

You did well, that's more snow than most of the country saw all winter away from Donegal, some parts of the North West and a few midland areas along with select areas of South Dublin and Wicklow in December.

I reckon over 60% of the country saw no lying snow not even a dusting. It wasn't just Leinster and Munster that escaped mostly snow free but probably a large part of Connaught too. I can't remember any snow reports from counties Clare, Limerick, Mayo etc. A few parts of Galway got some snow which were more towards the midlands, Sligo didn't do great either as most of what fell there was rain or sleet away from the inland/high ground areas.

England didn't fare much better than us either with much of that country snow free all winter away from parts of the north-west and the south-east which got very lucky in December.

It was Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland which did quite well in comparison to everywhere else due to the north facing coasts.

Very poor winter for snow as well in the Netherlands, they got about 1 day of it in places which is very poor for there.

Another point to make about this winter is while I have zero interest in wind storms there wasn't a single wind storm this winter from the Atlantic. There are posters here who get excited by these events, and they are well entitled to that excitement like I am to snow events but they had nothing to report this winter either, so that was very disappointing for them as well.

Graces7

The calm and milder winter has been greatly appreciated and enjoyed, and may we get many more like it.

My first daffodil is out...

nacho libre

Just wondering when was the last time we actually had a Polar Low. I think we had one in December 2000. There must have been some after that.

I associate them with Aidan Nulty( a Met Éireann forecaster back in the 90s). I remember a couple of his forecasts that mentioned heavy snow pushing down from the north due to a Polar Low. There was one particular forecast on live at three where the video graphic showed heavy snow from Donegal pushing all the way down to Coastal Cork!

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120304018#Comment_120304018

I thought Leitrim did very well for snow that time.

nacho libre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120304461#Comment_120304461

Parts of Mayo and Roscommon had snow too. As well as the Midlands. It was just unfortunate we had that warm sector on one of the nights when there was plenty of shower activity.

highdef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120304477#Comment_120304477

Yeah, I did surprisingly well in Longford, with about 4cm....... It's not a big amount of snow by any account but was enough to keep a covering for a few days and shaded local roads remained covered with compressed snow for a couple of days.

In the photo here, I was looking in a northerly direction. Photo was taken around lunchtime on the 18th January. Not sure if the detail is good enough to show that a little bit further north, there's very little lying snow, most likely because in and around Longford town lies at about 50m ASL whilst I was at 100m ASL. I reckon it was that fine a line between snow acculating or not.

nacho libre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120304543#Comment_120304543

It never ceases to amaze me how localised snow can be due to small differences in heights and some other factors. I remember back in 2009 at the end of the Cold Spell we had heavy snow when other places not so far away had none due to being slightly lower down. It has also worked the other way too. A couple of years ago places further west, such as Castlebar and Westport, had 12 hours of snow while we were stuck with heavy rain.

Gonzo

The snow in early January was very marginal stuff where there was showers, you had to be well inland away from sea air or have some sort of height for snow to settle, as highdefs photo shows a slight reduction in height and it's back to green grass. Upper air temperatures during that spell were around -6 which can give anything from cold rain to sleet or snow depending on location, this is why I generally look for -8 uppers at the very least with -10 uppers for sure to bring snow to low levels everywhere including coasts.

weatherfiend

Agreed. My Mum and Dad live 10 minutes from us but because of a considerable difference in asl, we can regularly be much colder than them and have many times had decent snow where they’ve only had a sniff

Cluedo Monopoly

I believe the weather lady on RTE said it would we the 4th warmest and 5th driest February on record.

M.T. Cranium

One somewhat interesting cold spell mid-December, otherwise as you say, a borefest of epic proportions. But look what's coming, apparently, quite a cold week or two with some chances for snow here and there. Monday on for the colder spell. I guess this belongs in a spring discussion? Maybe there was one I didn't spot. But it's still astronomical winter until 21st or so.

Graces7

The winter has been lovely! Peaceful. No extremes. Chilly but that IS winter.

adocholiday

Was very happy to escape the winter without a significant wind event. Storm Barra in December 2021 was the last real significant wind event for the East and 4 days with no power and a few downed trees on my property was enough for me. Never say never though I suppose, still plenty of time for spring to throw something our way.

highdef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120308085#Comment_120308085

Hear, Hear! It's been an OK winter, I can't disagree. Not much damage to house or land.

appledrop

It's gas how we all see the winter so differently.

I think it's been a good winter, not too much rain after a bad autumn and thankfully not too many icy days so safe driving on the road.

I'll take a boring winter every year if it means more people are safe from storms and car crashes on icy roads.

I know three people who broke bones/ got injured during that cold snap and none of them were pensioners.

weatherfiend

Have to say I’ve enjoyed the winter. We were lucky to benefit nicely from the December cold spell with good snow fall. Loved the icy mornings for a change.

I’m not a fan of (meh) damp and wind (ears don’t do well in wind) so I love heat and cold

Dazler97

Winter was mild in my opinion apart from the cold December blast we had , I do believe spring will be dry to start and maybe a very wet April but summer should be hot